Greenstar Utility 32/50

[Best]

The people that boast about "never having their boiler serviced & it being 10 years old!" I find very funny. They think their boiler must be running spot on & have saved a fortune in servicing costs. Usually their boiler will have had way too much air mix & therefore highly inefficient, but less likely to soot. Not forgetting the shell & baffles will be caked with corrosive blocking sulphur & the nozzle likely blocked inside. That said, in fairness, many boilers are not done properly by service engineers & are a waste of money.
I think I read that the optimum CO2 with oil is 15% (meaning the oil is fully used) but this figure is not attainable as boiler will soot etc.

 

[peteheat]

Most plumbers don't realise the manufacturer sets the air high on the boiler so it will start when installed, many just leave it manufacturers settings thinking they are correct when the truth is the opposite.

How many times have you got the smell of fuel in the wind before even ringing the door bell?

 

[DirksPlumbing]

I find NG boiler usually set up pretty good at factory, oil most of the time but on the LPG versions it seems every third boiler that would be At Risk with factory settings.

 

[PhilC]

Our Greenstar Utility 32/50 has just been serviced, and, unlike Millsy, the engineer couldn't get it to the MI figures. Should I be worried? Readings on the invoice are:
CO2 14.2 (MI 12.0)
Flue temp 87 (MI 85)
Smoke 0
Pump 115 (MI 120)
CO 88
He did a thorough job, taking over an hour to clean both heat exchangers, and cleaned the condensate trap. Nozzle used is right, 1.10 45S. I'm just a bit concerned the CO2 is high - what does this mean in terms of efficiency? Not sure if it's relevant, but flue is conventional, approx 10m high from boiler in basement to top of chimney.

One other odd thing - when I rang to confirm the booking, they said they might need to replace the flexi oil lines (£18 each). In our last house they weren't replaced in 15 years and never gave any problem. Is this something new dreamed up by OFTEC?

 

[Roger Welton]

At 14.2% CO2 I'd imagine it wpont be long before he's back to clean it out again!!

 

[lame plumber]

nothing like a burst flexi return to leave a nice smell in the kitchen:8:

 

[peteheat]

Our Greenstar Utility 32/50 has just been serviced, and, unlike Millsy, the engineer couldn't get it to the MI figures. Should I be worried? Readings on the invoice are:
CO2 14.2 (MI 12.0)
Flue temp 87 (MI 85)
Smoke 0
Pump 115 (MI 120)
CO 88
He did a thorough job, taking over an hour to clean both heat exchangers, and cleaned the condensate trap. Nozzle used is right, 1.10 45S. I'm just a bit concerned the CO2 is high - what does this mean in terms of efficiency? Not sure if it's relevant, but flue is conventional, approx 10m high from boiler in basement to top of chimney.

One other odd thing - when I rang to confirm the booking, they said they might need to replace the flexi oil lines (£18 each). In our last house they weren't replaced in 15 years and never gave any problem. Is this something new dreamed up by OFTEC?

OFTEC don't dream things up, they bring them to everyone's attention.

I would bet the quality of the 15 year old oil lines could never compare to the rubbish being sold today, it is possible to get an oil line that is guaranteed past the standard one year guarantee however price is dictating quality.

The C0 figure would concern me, just marginally inside the limit looks like you need another engineer.

 

[Best]

14.2% co2 ? That boiler will not have a smoke number of 0. What was wrong with the "engineer" upping the air to the burner slightly to reduce the co2 to 12% max?
Get yourself another engineer in immediately & don't run the boiler until he comes or it will soot up.

 

[PhilC]

The C0 figure would concern me, just marginally inside the limit looks like you need another engineer.

Thanks - our Parkray had a good go at killing us 20 years ago, with CO leaking through cracks in the pointing of the chimney between ground and first floors, so CO is something I take very seriously. We've got a CO detector right next to the boiler...

 

[Millsy 82]

Where abouts are you somebody on here might be local to you.

 

[PhilC]

Thanks everyone for their replies - I think I understand what's going on now. I had a look at the air setting and it's down at 4 (which coincidentally is the default setting in the manual), so plenty of scope to increase it to get the CO2 down.

I'm trying a polite email to the engineer's boss, along the lines of "these are the results on the invoice, please comment" not "engineers on the internet reckon your engineer didn't do his job properly" and I'm hoping he'll do the decent thing and send someone out to finish the job properly

Failing that, I'm on the Devon\Cornwall border, just off the A30. (good idea, Millsy!)

 

[SimonG]

There was an issue with the 32/50's a year or so ago. They ran like ivor the engine, turns out it was down to the magic eye not seeing the flame properly. WB changed the design of the blast tube (they drilled an 8mm hole in it).

 

[lame plumber]

Failing that, I'm on the Devon\Cornwall border, just off the A30. (good idea, Millsy!)

I'm not to far away fm there, depending which part of the border you are on north or south if u r desperate for another bod to set it up. jcd

 

[PhilC]

There was an issue with the 32/50's a year or so ago. They ran like ivor the engine, turns out it was down to the magic eye not seeing the flame properly. WB changed the design of the blast tube (they drilled an 8mm hole in it).

Interesting - any way of telling whether I've got the old or new design of blast tube, short of disassembly, and are WB doing it as a recall/warranty item, or is it a matter of buying one, part no 87161080790 Blast Tube type S looks like the right one.

 

[lame plumber]

Interesting - any way of telling whether I've got the old or new design of blast tube, short of disassembly, and are WB doing it as a recall/warranty item, or is it a matter of buying one, part no 87161080790 Blast Tube type S looks like the right one.

withdrawing my offer to turn out, you seem to know what your doing!

 

[PhilC]

withdrawing my offer to turn out, you seem to know what your doing!

I know my limitations - I can find info on the internet well but I'm not a qualified oil technician!

 

[SimonG]

Interesting - any way of telling whether I've got the old or new design of blast tube, short of disassembly, and are WB doing it as a recall/warranty item, or is it a matter of buying one, part no 87161080790 Blast Tube type S looks like the right one.

The modified one has a hole drilled in it whereas the original didn't. There's no recall, they're just changing at as there are issues.

 

[WHPES]

£18 for a flexi seems a bit steep unless it's the long life type (which I would request).

 

[peteheat]

£18 for a flexi seems a bit steep unless it's the long life type (which I would request).

Everyone's overheads and profit margins are different, also might be buying from a supplier who is charging big for quality.

 

[Bunker]

I totally agree with some of the above, ill set a boiler up as close to MI as poss then over air it slightly to avoid sooting. As above, you lose a small amount of efficiency but are mostly assured a cleaner burn. Anyone trying to set and retain Manu spec on an old boiler is daft in my books!